Cues of Attack (FightWrite™)

In order for a fight scene to be realistic, everything leading up to it has to be realistic as well. If your character means to do harm, they will give predicative cues. Even if they remain silent, their body will communicate what their mind intends. In this FightWrite post on the WD blog, we will look at how your character’s body will indicate that an attack is forthcoming. 

(How Criminal Sketch Artistry Works (FightWrite™))

PATC Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute conducted a study on interpersonal cues predicting assault. A sample of 129 law enforcement officers, all assaulted at least once on the job, chose 11 behaviors that signaled attack. They are listed from least to most predicative.

11. Stretching arms / shoulders
10. Sweating profusely
9. Pacing
8. Tense jaw muscles
7. Head rolls / neck stretches
6. Looking around the area
5. Making verbal threats
4. Clenching hands into fists
3. Placing hands in pockets (Hiding hands)
2. Invading personal space
1. Assuming a fighter’s stance

The fighter’s stance is an important body posture to know not only for your work but your life off the page. In general, a fighter’s stance puts one foot forward, as if stepping, and the hands are brought up away from the body. The chest tends to be toward the opponent.

If the chest is turned slightly away, and the entire body is turned slightly sideways, that is known as “blading.” While it wasn’t in the top 11 listed by law enforcement officers, it’s a big one. Generally, blading is a type of fighter’s stance. However, a bladed fight stance has different implications than one in which the chest directly forward.

One purpose of body blading is to create less of target for the opponent. To better understand blading, grab a book and set it on a table in front of you with the front of the book facing you. It can be turned a little, but not much. You shouldn’t be able to see enough of the spine to read it, or see the entire width of the pages. That book is positioned in a chest forward fight stance. If it is turned no more than 45 degrees, it is able to throw a good punch. It means business. Don’t take your eyes off that book.

If the book is turned so much that you can read the spine clearly or know the width of the pages, that book is bladed. Notice that in that bladed position that book is a smaller target. That is why some people adopt the bladed stance in a fight. They are offering a smaller target for the opponent. That said, that is not the most efficient body position for punching. So, if your character has adopted that stance, they either don’t understand the mechanics of an efficient punch or they are a practitioner of a martial art that utilizes that stance for a reason that directly relates to the efficiency of that style. For example, Taekwondo utilizes a bladed stance. That stance relates directly to the movement of Taekwondo.

There is one more reason that a character might adopt a bladed stance, and it the biggest problem for the opposing character. People blade their body in an attempt to obscure something from the person facing them. That something is often a weapon. Look back at that feisty book on the table. If you can see the pages completely, you can’t see a word on the spine. That book could be holding a knife on its spine side and you’d be none the wiser.

On that note, let’s say that book is in a bookstore and it has black plastic covering half of the book. One side of the book is visible. One side is obscured. Before you buy that book, you will want to know why a portion of it is covered. What does the store not want you to see? What is being hidden?

Look at your characters the same way. If a character is hiding a portion of their body, there is a problem. What does that character not want others to see? What are they hiding? It could be a weapon.

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But let’s say it is cold out. Two characters are arguing and one has a hand in the front pocket of their hoodie. How can you show the reader the difference in a character who is trying to stay warm and one who is concealing something? Show the rest of the body. If the character is cold, the rest of their body will show it. They will use one hand to gesture, then replace that hand in the hooding pouch to warm it. If both hands are in the pocket, the elbows and shoulders will still be moving.

However, if that character’s body is moving, but the arm of the hand that is hidden is dead still, there is a problem. That character is not moving that hand and arm because the want to keep a grip on the weapon. Or, maybe they think that if they keep the arm and hand still it will draw less attention. They think others will be so distracted by the movement in most of their body, they won’t know notice the stillness in another.

And there you have it. How to show rather than tell that your character means to fight. And, reader, I hope that you can remember this list for yourself as well. We want a realistic fight scene and a story that punches the reader right in the gut. But we have to be healthy enough to write it. Stay safe out there. And be on the lookout for any books that are adopting a fight stance with you! Make eye contact, and keep walking. That book is up to no good.

Hope to see you all at the Writer’s Digest Conference coming up quickly July 24-27. Be sure to check out my classes “Hurting Your Character and Fight Write: Practical to Tactical.” In the first class we will be looking at wounds. Literally. In the second we will learn how to wound! Take both. You won’t regret it.

Until the next round with FightWrite® on the WD blog, get blood on your pages!